@Anonymous wrote:I got an alert there were some changes to my credit report from credit karma over the weekend. It says my Transunion and Equifax vantagescores increased 100 points to 670 and 671. I went to Experian.com and checked my scores from all three bureaus. It showed my Experian 581, Equifax 652 and Transunion 600.
I then applied for a few credit cards. The first two I got denied, got approved for a capital one card today. The first denial showed my Equifax score 692. The second denial showed my Experian also at 692. I then did a $1 trial on Equifax.com to get all three FICO scores and it shows my Equifax 514, transunion 497 and Experian 533.
My question is, why am I getting wildly different scores everywhere I look? Even on the Experian and Equifax websites? Is there a lag time for my FICO scores to update?
Any insight would be greatly appreciated.
Equifax does not provide FICO scores; and I'm sure its prominently noted on their website. The only two sources for real-time three bureau scores are Experian.com and MyFICO.com.
You also did not disclose the two lenders who denied you with an scores of 692; its possible that those scores are based on a different scoring model than the basic FICO Score 8 model.
@Anonymous wrote:I got an alert there were some changes to my credit report from credit karma over the weekend. It says my Transunion and Equifax vantagescores increased 100 points to 670 and 671.
Credit Karma scores are meaningless, so forget those.
I went to Experian.com and checked my scores from all three bureaus. It showed my Experian 581, Equifax 652 and Transunion 600.
What scoring models?
I then applied for a few credit cards. The first two I got denied, got approved for a capital one card today. The first denial showed my Equifax score 692.
What scoring model?
The second denial showed my Experian also at 692.
What scoring model?
I then did a $1 trial on Equifax.com to get all three FICO scores and it shows my Equifax 514, transunion 497 and Experian 533.
What scoring models?
My question is, why am I getting wildly different scores everywhere I look? Even on the Experian and Equifax websites? Is there a lag time for my FICO scores to update?
Any insight would be greatly appreciated.
1. The different bureaus do not always have the same data at the same time.
2. You're probably looking at many different scoring models, some not FICO scores at all. Comparing apples to oranges you're going to get wildly different scores.
@Anonymous wrote:
Thanks for the responses, that’s very helpful. My main question now is, what FICO is the most accurate? The FICO score from the Experian website or the FICO score from the credit card denials?
The FICO scores from the Experian website are accurate, stable, reliable, indicators. I would go with that so as to be able to truly and consistently measure your progress. The Experian report and scores update daily, so they are extremely timely.
The FICO scores from MyFICO are great, too, if you can swing the big bucks. But they don't update daily like EX does.
The FICO scores from the denials may be good, but they are hit and miss. You need to know what you're reading, and it's not always easy to make that determination. E.g. a denial from Capital One will usually tell you the EQ FICO 5 score, but won't tell you that that's the score to which it's referring. Also, you don't want to get any more denials 
From now on, only approvals
@Anonymous wrote:
Thanks for the responses, that’s very helpful. My main question now is, what FICO is the most accurate? The FICO score from the Experian website or the FICO score from the credit card denials?
This depends on the model they used. What you are seeing on Experian is the Fico 8 model, but those other numbers likely came from one of the other models like the bankcard, fico 9, etc.. There are a lot of them. The only place I know where you can see all the models is to order one of the 3b reports from myfico.com. They are pricy but do give the full picture and I'm guessing one is going to be right around that 692 score you referenced.
@dynamicvb wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
Thanks for the responses, that’s very helpful. My main question now is, what FICO is the most accurate? The FICO score from the Experian website or the FICO score from the credit card denials?This depends on the model they used. What you are seeing on Experian is the Fico 8 model, but those other numbers likely came from one of the other models like the bankcard, fico 9, etc.. There are a lot of them. The only place I know where you can see all the models is to order one of the 3b reports from myfico.com. They are pricy but do give the full picture and I'm guessing one is going to be right around that 692 score you referenced.
My Experian service gives me 7 Experian scores updated daily, including the all important FICO 2.
@SouthJamaica wrote:
My Experian service gives me 7 Experian scores updated daily, including the all important FICO 2.
I did not know that. When I had their subscription I only got the EX Fico 8 daily and other 2 CRAs once a month. Which subscription do you have? I paused myfico last month and I've been considering just getting rid of it as I can use that 40 bucks for other stuff.
@dynamicvb wrote:
@SouthJamaica wrote:
My Experian service gives me 7 Experian scores updated daily, including the all important FICO 2.
I did not know that. When I had their subscription I only got the EX Fico 8 daily and other 2 CRAs once a month. Which subscription do you have? I paused myfico last month and I've been considering just getting rid of it as I can use that 40 bucks for other stuff.
I have Credit Watch (not credit watch basic and not credit watch premium, just credit watch). But I was told the other day in this forum that that particular product, which costs me $10 mo. + tax, is no longer being offered. So you might have to spring for $25 mo + tax for the Credit Watch Premium product, which has some additional stuff but includes the daily EX report update & 7 scores update.